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Back in our grandparents’ day -- before the advent of big-box home and garden centers -- gardeners saved seeds from harvest to harvest, and shared those seeds with neighbors.

There’s an effort in Cleveland Heights this spring to go back to the practice of saving and sharing seeds. The Coventry Village Branch of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library is opening a Seed Lending Library, a collection of flower, herb and vegetable seeds. Lenders select seeds to plant at home, with the promise they will harvest and return seeds to the Seed Library in the fall.

The library will hold a Seed Library Kickoff Event on Saturday, March 29. Mari Keating, founder of Food Not Lawns, Cleveland and a certified permaculture designer, will talk about the basics of seed saving and why it’s important to save seeds during the kickoff event. Other experienced gardeners will be there to give advice and support. Food Not Lawns, Cleveland is an organization that advocates turning lawns into food or flower gardens, and it donated seed to the seed library.

“It’s fun to grow seeds,” said Keating, who lives in Cleveland Heights. “It’s very self-empowering to grow something from seeds. You feel completely in control.”

Beginning gardeners are sometimes intimidated by the idea of saving seeds, but it’s easy, Keating said. “Once you do it, you’re over it,” she said.

Librarians at the Coventry Village branch can help by pointing out books about vegetable growing and the collection and preservation of seeds, said Maggie Killman, adult services associate for the Coventry Village branch of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library. Killman is helping to organize the seed library.

Patrons can sign up to take as many as six packets of seeds. At the end of the season, gardeners are asked to save seeds from their best growing plants that give the best-tasting vegetables, and bring those seeds back to the library to keep the cycle going.

Participation is free; you don’t even need a library card. It’s open to residents and non-residents of Cleveland Heights. The Cleveland Heights’ Seed Library is not affiliated with the Cleveland Seed Bank, or the Seed Library at the Cleveland Public Library (See related stories in this blog for more information on the Cleveland Seed Bank and the Seed Library at the Cleveland Public Library.)

Keating’s idea of bringing a seed library to Cleveland Heights began last summer, when she took it upon herself to plant vegetables in the sadly neglected planters at the University Heights branch library. That led to conversations with library leadership about starting a seed library.

The project is starting with plants that are easy to grow and that have seeds that are easy to collect. The project is starting off with Asian cucumber, heirloom swiss chard, elephant head amaranth, broccoli, native jewel corn and more.

At the kickoff event, Keating will explain that some vegetables, such as beans, carrots, radish and greens, grow better with seeds that are planted directly outdoors after the chance of frost. Other plants do best when seeds are started indoors and later transplanted outside.

Why save seeds? It’s cheaper to save them from year to year than to buy them, Keating said. By saving seeds from your own plants, you’re avoiding seeds that have been chemically treated, and you can control the nutrients that the plant receives from the very beginning. Growing our own food is a way to combat high food prices as the drought in California continues, she said.

The seed library is distributing open-pollinated, non-hybrid and heirloom seeds, Keating said. Heirloom plants are varieties that can be traced back to previous time periods, she said. Open-pollinated and non-hybrid plants are able to reproduce via seeds; hybrid plants don’t breed true and won’t produce the same offspring year after year.

The library system decided to start the seed library at the Coventry branch because people in that neighborhood care about fresh food and the environment, Killman said. She plans to organize related events throughout the year, such as potluck dinners, to promote a sense of community among the seed library patrons. “You have an ongoing conversation and keep in touch,” Killman said.

During the kickoff event, Keating will stress to seed library patrons that they must bring seeds back in order to keep the lending library going next year. There are no overdue fines, but there are expectations.

“There is an element of personal responsibility,” she said. “How do you keep the abundance going? I’ll be preaching that at the launch.”

View full sizeSeeds are prepared for the Seed Library, housed inside the Coventry Village branch of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights library. Patrons can take seed packets, plant them at home and bring back saved seeds in fall. Julie E. Washington

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